Fire and brimstone

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Fire and brimstone (Biblical Hebrew: גָּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ gofrīt wāʾēš; Ancient Greek: πῦρ καὶ θεῖον) is an idiomatic expression referring to God's wrath found in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Bible, it often appears in reference to the fate of the unfaithful. Brimstone, an archaic term for sulfur,^[1] evokes the acrid odor of sulfur dioxide, which is stated to be given off by lightning strikes.^[2] The association of sulfur with divine retribution is common in the Bible.

The English translation "fire and brimstone" is found in the 1611 Christian King James Version of the Old Testament and also in the 1917 translation of the Jewish Publication Society. The 1857 Leeser translation of the Tanakh inconsistently uses both "sulfur" and "brimstone" to translate גָּפְרִ֣ית וָאֵ֑שׁ. The translation used by the 1985 New JPS is "sulfurous fire" while the 1978 Christian New International Version translation uses "burning sulfur."

Used as an adjective, fire-and-brimstone often refers to a style of Christian preaching that uses vivid descriptions of judgment and eternal damnation to encourage repentance especially popular during historical periods of Great Awakening.^[3]